The CPI(ML) Bihar State committee organized a people’s convention in Patna on 3 December to discuss the implications of the recent Bihar election results and the role of the Left parties in terms of the challenges and responsibilities that lie ahead. Other Left parties as well as progressive individuals were also invited to the convention.
Dhirendra Jha on behalf of the Presidium invited leaders to the dais which included Comrades Dipankar Bhattacharya, Swadesh Bhattacharya, BB Pandey, Pradeep Jha, Sandeep Saurav, Arun Kumar Mishra, and Akhilesh Kumar Singh. The convention started with a commemorative song by Hirawal as a tribute to Com. Bindeshwari Singh and well-known journalist Arun Kumar.
RYA President, Com. Raju Yadav and AISA State Secretary Ajit Kushwaha spoke of the need for a pervasive agitation on student issues such as the dismal condition of education, scarcity of jobs, lack of campus democracy, and exorbitant fees due to privatization of education. AICCTU leader Com. Ranvijay Kumar said that the Nitish government has always suppressed the legitimate demands of workers, such as ending of contractual labour, equal pay for equal work, and regularization of service; these issues remain unresolved and we must unite and agitate to force the Mahagathbandhan government to address them. KHEGAMAS President Com. Rameshwar Prasad said that those fighting for dalit rights are being slapped with false cases and thrown into jail, which is why Com. Satyadev Ram, Com. Amarjeet Kushwaha, and Com. Manoj Manzil had to fight the elections from inside jail. He stressed that KHEGRAMAS would continue the struggle for vaas-awaas, labour and land issues.
AIPWA State secretary Com. Shashi Yadav and National Vice President Com. Bharati Kumar said that women workers on contractual and honorarium basis would be further organized and their struggle carried forward. Tarari and Balrampur MLAs comrades Sudama Prasad and Mahboob Alam said that the Party has won in three Assembly constituencies in spite of extreme polarization; they vowed to raise the issues of irrigation, sharecroppers’ rights, agrarian reforms, false cases on activists, and other important issues inside the Assembly as well as outside on the streets.
CPM and CPI leaders Arun Kumar Mishra and Akhilesh Kumar said that the Bihar elections have brought the Left as a viable third force in India. Nitish and Lalu cannot be relied upon to stop fascist forces; this can be accomplished only by a concerted effort of the united Left. Well-known doctor and public health activist Dr P. N. P. Pal and retd. Lt. Gen USP Sinha appealed for a united struggle for the rights of the poor, dalits, farmers, and minorities and reforms in labour, agriculture, education and health.
Kisan Mahasabha General Secretary Com. Rajaram Singh said that the people of Bihar have shown a high level of consciousness and have thrown out the fascist BJP; the poor and marginalized have put their trust in the Left. The basic questions of justice are still unresolved and we cannot pin our hopes on this new government. It is for the united Left to fight and get justice for the poor, dalits, and minorities.
CPI (ML) General Secretary Com. Dipankar Bhattacharya saluted the people of Bihar for shattering the BJP’s dream of furthering their agenda of destroying the country’s democratic and multicultural fabric. He pointed out that this result is not the outcome of one single day. Over the last 10 years Nitish has been instrumental in encouraging the growth of the BJP in Bihar. The poor, dalit, working class, students, women, and minorities in Bihar were not happy with this and had always protested, creating the climate for the present mandate. There was anger against the undeclared emergency in the country, earlier expressed by intellectuals returning awards, and now expressed by the people of Bihar. He said that the ‘Mandal-2’ and ‘development’ promises of the Mahagathbandhan government are false promises. Culprits in carnages have been acquitted in spite of overwhelming evidence, activists have been jailed with false cases slapped on them, education and land reforms have been put in cold storage, industries are shutting down, and privatization is rampant in education, health and other sectors. The Left must unite and fight strongly on all these issues. The convention concluded with the Party State committee passing a 5-point resolution and political proposal.
